


Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Part 1

by Longn1908



Series: Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Set [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Ilvermorny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-03-09 04:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13473585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longn1908/pseuds/Longn1908
Summary: Eric and Percy are first years starting at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school with a spot for every young witch and wizard. Eric came to be the smartest in the school, while Percy came to socialize with new witches and wizards, but when people go missing the excitable Percy and the reluctant Eric are forced into unraveling the mysteries of the school.





	1. A Wizz Pop and A Train Ride

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Harry Potter or any of it's content (though I would like to).

Eric hated trains. Trains were just small boxes handcrafted so he couldn’t stretch his legs out. The overhead compartments couldn’t fit the large bags Eric had collected from Oaken Alley. And worst of all, the brown haired, scowling, scarf wearing first year often felt like he was going to throw up on locomotives. So of course, Eric found himself hunched over, clutching his stomach, and sitting on the cushioned seat of an emerald steam engine. 

The scene would have been a rather sad one, with the young wizard sitting in the back of the train arms wrapped around his chest, but Eric felt comfortable knowing that nobody could see him in this sorry state. It was only him and his things. Across from the boy was an assortment of carry ons. Suitcase, prestenely packed with his name last name, Makanahra, labeled on the front, An oddly lumped package, which held the broom that Eric would never ride, and a cage with a large, black owl sitting, precariously on a ledge, on the inside. The owl stared directly at Eric, it’s eyes shining with a mixture of intelligence and annoyance.

_ “I told you that drinking Wizz Pop would make you sick,"  _ Luna hooted smugly. Eric groaned in response.

_ “Shut up, you know I can’t function in the morning without those things” _

_ “The morning, afternoon, evening, basically every point in the day really”  _ Eric didn’t say anything, which the owl took as an opportunity to keep antagonizing him.

_ “How many Wizz Pops did you pack?” _

_ “Twelve.” _

_ “God you’re a slob.”  _ Eric turned away from his owl, gritting his teeth. 

_ “Stop talking, I can’t think!”  _ The train hit a bump causing Eric’s stomach to lurch.

“Aruk!” The first year tightened his grip on his stomach with one hand and steadied himself on the green cushioned seat with the other. Luckily, no previous meals were ejected from Eric’s stomach. The wizard scanned over his trunk. He leaned forward. Fingers shaking, He fumbled with his suitcase unzipping it to reveal an array of potions carefully arranged in its mesh pouch. His mother would have killed him if he left for Ilvermorny without them. Groggily, and with his head spinning around him, Eric carefully read over the labels of each bottle until he gingerly picked up a scarlet potion with tiny pink flakes inside. The potion label,  _ Cure Motion Sickness _ , wrapped around the bottle. The writing was black, and the letters looped together in cursive. The sweet smell of pine was strong enough to waft out of the bottle, even though the cork was securely seal on. Everything about the potion was perfectly brewed to the specifications of the recipe. The door to the tram slammed open. Eric watched in horror as the perfectly brewed potion flew out of his hand and onto the floor.

“Fuck!”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to slam the door” The boy was tall, a lot taller than Eric. His hair was black and matted to one side, and his eyes were grey to match his pale skin. He hurriedly picked up the bottle and handed it back to Eric.

“I’m Percy, Percy Zaayer” Percy had a higher voice than Eric would have expected for someone his height.“Thanks” Eric forced. He tentatively grasped the bottle and looked over the contents. Like with Wizz Pops, Eric learned never to trust potions that had been shaken up past the point of discoloration. The liquid was still scarlet with pink flakes. He popped the cork and chugged down the contents. It felt cold and sticky, like drinking a bottle of maple syrup that had been put into the fridge. Satisfied, Eric breathed out. He noticed the newcomer staring in amazement at the potion. Eric scanned over the boy. Under his robes he had a bright yellow t-shirt with a smiley face on it, completely opposite of his dark exterior. His eyes were quick to dart around the room, and he had this excitable energy to him that Eric had never seen before.

“I’m Eric Makanahra” 

“Nice” Percy said plopping himself down on the seat across for Eric right next to Luna. There was a moment of pause as the two boys stared at each other for a few moments waiting for the other to pick up the conversation.

“So, why aren’t you sitting with members of your class?” Eric asked. Percy shuffled his feet.

“I don’t actually know who’s in my class, I’m just a first year”

“Really? You look older than that, like an eighth grader or something” Eric waved his hand around in a circular motion, brushing off his mistake. Percy chuckled a bit. It wasn’t because the comment was funny, it was just so he could get the awkwardness out of the air.

“Yeah, I’m a first year too” Eric continued, “I’m hoping to get into my sister’s house, she’s in Wampus”

“House, what do you mean by house?” Percy puzzled.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“You mean to tell me that you don’t know about the house system?”

“No, not really,” Eric narrowed his eyes at the first year before shrugging his shoulders and answering.

“Well, at Ilvermorny there are four houses, at the beginning of school each first year is sorted into their houses by statues..”

“mhm?”

“The statues are all different and accept certain witches and wizards. My sister’s in Wampus, it favours physical strength.”

“What about the others?”

“Well let’s see, there’s Pukwudgie that favors the heart, Horned Serpent the favors the mind, and Thunderbird which favors the spirit.” Eric counted each of the houses off on his fingers making sure he didn’t forget them, or give them the wrong definition. At the end he stared directly in to Percy’s grey eyes making sure he understood.

“What’s the difference between heart and spirit?” The black haired boy asked.

“I don’t ‘effing know” Percy laughed, still small, but this time it was genuine. Eric smiled. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. A middle aged man who looked somewhat bored was leaning against a cart filled with an assortment of candies. Chocolate Frogs, to Star Streamers, to Fizz Wailers all stood tall and proud under the watchful eye of a disinterested cart driver.

“Ya’ want any candy from the trolley?” He spoke with a New Jersey accent which complimented his boredom quite nicely. Luna perked up.

_ “Eric no, you just got over being sick we are not going to have you chugging down every single potion your mom packed you because you’re a dumbass.”  _

“I’ll take two Wizz Pops, please.” 

Luna gave an exasperated hoot, shaking her tiny head back and forth. Eric handed the candy man several knuts in exchange for two unopened bottles of Wizz Pop. The trolley man turned towards Percy.

“How ‘bout you?” He asked not really caring.

“I’ll take one of,” He put his finger to his chin before pointing at one of the Chocolate Frogs, “whatever those are”

“That’ll be eigh’ knuts” Percy fished for the coins out of his pocket, showed several bronze coins to Eric.

“These right?”

“Yup” Percy handed eight of the bronze coins to the candy man, who handed him the Chocolate Frogs and promptly flung the door shut. Percy stuffed the candy into his robe pocket before turning to Eric.

“What’s a Wizz Pop?” Eric stopped. He slowly stared at Percy dumbfounded.

“Not knowing the houses is one thing, but it is a crime to not have at least tried a Wizz Pop.”

“Then can I have a drink?” Percy asked. Eric considered the bottle, then Percy. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Here” The brown haired boy tossed the the drink over to Percy, who happily screwed off the top and chugged it until only half the liquid remained.

“Did you even taste it?”

“Yeah, it was good. I still prefer Dr. Pepper though.”

“The hell’s a Dr. Pepper?” Now it was Percy’s turn to be shocked.

“You mean to tell me you’ve never heard of Dr. Pepper?”

“Nope” Percy shook his head. Obviously, he found Eric’s lack of soda knowledge astonishing. Eric ran his fingers through his hair making what previously looked like a  bush, into something that more resembled a tangled mop. Luna took this pause in the conversation to interject her opinion.

_ “Oh my God, I don’t care!”  _ She screeched. Eric rolled his eyes.

_ “Would you be quiet, I’m trying to have a conversation!”  _ Eric snapped. Percy nearly dropped his Wizz Pop.

“You can speak owl!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, it’s a rarer ability, but most Dyrlingualists can” Eric answered leaning back. “What’s a Dyrlingualist?”

“Man have you been living under an ‘effing rock?” Percy put his hands up in the air defensively

“Sorry, I’m not good with this magic stuff, I only recently discovered I was wizard like a couple weeks ago, you don’t have to be rude about it” Suddenly, Eric felt extremely sheepish. He shuffled his feet back and forth across the carpeted floors.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were no maj born”

“What’s a no maj”

“A no maj is a muggle” Percy looked even more confused.

“Well what’s a muggle?” Eric didn’t know how to answer that, usually, ‘like muggles’ was his go two answer.

“Well.. um, a muggle is like a wizard, no, it’s not like a wizard. It’s...um, you see, it’s a guy who can’t-”

“It’s a someone who can’t use magic” Percy finished.

“Yeah, that’s it” Eric exclaimed shouting snapping his fingers. 

Their conversation lasted for the better part of an hour before Luna shifted on her perch.

_ “I don’t mean to interrupt, but; Ilvermorny dead ahead”  _

“Huh?” Eric looked over to the window, outside was a castle just above the treeline. It’s stone towers scraped against the night sky as several clouds covered around the tallest. Around the entire building was a cobblestone wall that was clearly built to intimidate as well as defend. Vines crept up across the entire exterior of the castle, and tall, frail figures with extended limbs could just barely be seen within the gates of the castle. 

“Well, we should get ready then” Eric suggested making sure that his ink colored robes were in order.

“Probably” Percy agreed moving to grab his suitcase. Eric noted that his suit case was sloppily packed. Tiny pieces of fabric were sticking out of the edges, and the top of the case seemed to warped ever so slightly, making it evident that the clothing was thrown inside, rather than the carefully fold and organized trunk Eric had. The brown haired wizard shook his head. Refocusing he grabbed Luna’s cage, much to the annoyance of the owl inside, and slid the glass door open.

The train walkways were jam packed with different students of different shapes and sizes. One small girl was getting thrown around in the crowd, her tiny squeaks lost in the bustle of wizards and witches. Eric stepped outside and was immediately thrown against the wall. He scanned over the crowd for Percy who was ever so carefully maneuvered his way through the crowd. Eric stood up and straightened his bags. He waited for the mob to thin out before continuing on. A slight amount of steam had made it onto the steps leading out of the emerald engine. Ever so carefully, Eric descend onto the platform. His shoes barely fit the tiny steps of the train. Finally, Eric stood on the platform, his back to the train, facing the castle. The air was warm, and the smell of cedar trees made him feel like he was at home. Finally, he was at Ilvermorny.

 


	2. The Sorting Statues

As soon as Eric was off the train the crowd of students divided him and Percy from each other. Eric gripped his bag tighter as he was pushed and shoved through the train station. His arms were limp, and dead on either side of him. All and all it was an uncomfortable situation. As soon as the young wizard gained his composure he scanned the crowd for anyone he knew. Students walked passed at a brisk pace, everyone had somewhere to go, somewhere to be and Eric was just. Lost. His eyes finally settled on a girl with blue hair. She was conversing in a small group of third years, all of who were in Wampus.

“You dyed it?” One of them asked her.

“I thought you said you’d never dye your hair” Another chimed in.

“At least not in unnatural colors” A third added.

“I figured it was time for a change of pace” Mia answered confidently. Eric smirked. Turning her hair blue wasn’t something Mia did intentionally, it was because she was experimenting with her cauldron over summer break. Neither her nor their aunt could change it back. The effect was explosively hilarious. Eric shoved past the rest of the students before stopping and staring straight up at Mia.

“Hey sis”

“Hey Eric” She greeted back. The response had an air of boredom to it that Eric wasn’t used to at home. He figured it was because she wanted to appear ‘cool’ in front of her friends.

“Do you know where I’m supposed to be heading?” 

“Oh! I know” One of girls cheered excitedly pushing Mia out of the way. She grabbed onto Eric’s shoulder causing him to stiffen. The girl pointed to a tall rugged man in a long flowing robe that extended past his ankles. He was holding a lantern that shined with green fire burning on the inside.

“You want to go over to Owen, he can seem a bit mean at first, but don’t feel bad, he gets better once you get to know him” Eric nodded.

“Thank you”

He ran off towards the man clutching his things as tightly as he could.

“What a cute kid” The third year noted just barely loud enough for Eric to hear it. He watched as the man raised the lantern in to the air. 

“First years over here” The man’s voice was gruff and ridged like his appearance, “You don’t want to be late for the sorting now do you?” He had a permanent scowl etched on his face that made Eric wonder if the man had ever smiled before. A small group of first years were gathering around Owen’s feet.

Before Eric could push past the rest of the rabble he was bumped by a small girl that was carrying too many suitcases for her own good. She had auburn hair and mouse like features. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear then ran back towards the train.

“Sorry” The girl mouthed back to him, her meek voice lost amongst the bustling crowd. Eric wanted to respond, but before he got time to choose his words she was gone. Eventually, the brown haired boy made it to the group of first years who had crowded around the man with the lantern. Eric spotted Percy on the other side of the herd of sixth graders. He was waving his arms excitedly towards Eric. Eric smiled and rolled his eyes, amused. He flashed Percy with a thumbs up. This small gesture made Percy’s eyes brighten. Eric’s smile grew. The man cleared his throat.

“I am Owen, the grounds Keeper here at Ilvermorny, we’re going to wait for the other classes to clear out before we head up to the castle for sorting” One of the first years cheered. Owen’s brow furrowed into an even deeper scowl, which Eric couldn’t believe was possible.

“Like I was saying, you are all going to be sorted into different houses that represent a specific personal trait. The sorting is a vital tradition here at Ilvermorny. Do. Not. Disrupt. The. Ceremony. If you do the consequences will be immediate and harsh. Headmistress Mccoy will give a speech afterwards and then can you eat” Percy pulled out one of the chocolate frogs from his pocket and gave Eric a look that said, ‘that’s what he thinks’. Eric shook his head in amusement. Owen put his free hand on his side and leaned his lantern against his shoulder. He watched as the last of the stragglers trudged up the hill into the castle. Soon all the upperclassmen were out of site.

“We’re ready” He nodded to the mass of first years. The first year that cheered earlier looked like he was about to burst. Owen took the lead of the crowd and beckoned the new students to follow. The group marched up the hill to the castle. It’s imposing nature gave Eric chills down his spine. A couple of more excited sixth graders ran ahead of Owen before realizing they weren’t with the group, and turned back. Percy was one of them which made it harder for Eric to jog up to him.

“Hey” Eric smiled.

“Wassup” Percy greeted.

“Nothing... You nervous?”

“No. You?” Eric put his hands on his hip. He looked at Percy trying to put on an air of confidence.

“Nope” He bit his lower lip. Eventually, the group made it to the top of the hill. Owen stopped in front of a large iron gate the separated the first years from the school courtyard. Owen lead the group inside the iron cast door making a large creaking noise as it opened.. The enclosure was filled to the brim with statues of different witches and wizards. Some of them looked odd and misshapen while some looked pristine. In the center was a fountain with the figure of a woman standing tall and determined. She had a wand in her hand pointing to the sky and a book tucked underneath her shoulder. A plack with the name  _ Isolt Sayre  _ was visible just underneath her feat. Eric was mesmerized by the woman. She looked almost like a ghost guarding the castle. He was so fixated on the witch he almost didn’t notice the monsters moving amongst the statues. Hunched over wooden creatures littered the courtyard. Twigs and leaves stuck out from their backs and arms. Their faces were twisted into odd knots, and their teeth looked like someone had spread moss all over them. They were all glaring at the first years.

“Don’t worry about the Pukwudgies, they’re harmless” Owen instructed, then he stopped before adding, “Mostly”

“Harmless my ass” Eric muttered to himself. Luna hooted in agreement. As they entered the courtyard itself the first years were met by a man in jeans and a white T-shirt that seemed a size too big for him. He was taller than anyone Eric had ever met. He didn’t understand how this man didn’t hit his head on every doorway he passed through. 

“‘Sup, I’m Will. I’ll be taking your bags, you don’t want them cluttering the Great hall during the sorting” He gave a cocky smile, “Just set them on the floor and let me work my magic” The students proceeded to drop their bags on the floor. Eric set down his suitcase and broom, but decided to keep Luna. He strengthened his grip on her cage. The man pulled a wand out of his back pocket and with a flick of his wrist Will the bags all floated into the air and disappeared with a flash of light and a small pop. Satisfied with his work, He tucked his wand back into his pocket.

“Now then, let’s get started, shall we?”

 

The inside of Ilvermorny was only partially what Eric had expected. While the stone corridors on either side of him was something that he was told about the magic gears were not. Far, far above his head the inside of a clock turned and toiled as it spun the hands of the clock tower, that Eric failed to notice outside. He was probably too worried about the Pukwudgies, or the woman. Walkways were magically attached to the gears indicating that the upper floors went up for a long while. Eric tilted head forwards along with the rest of the crowd. The Great Hall was directly in front of them. Giant tables ran vertically through the hall. Each table was lit up by a different colored lamp representing the four houses. Orange for Pukwudgie, green for Horned Serpent, gold for Wampus, and electric blue for Thunderbird. Behind the student seating was a round table where the teachers happily conversed amongst themselves. Eric noted that a goblin sat amongst their ranks cheerily sipping on a pint of beer far bigger than his head. Eric’s eyes moved to the back of the room. Four colossal statues that depicted each of the house’s animals stood resolute on their pedestals.

_ “Well, this is quite the light show” _ Luna hooted. Eric nodded in agreement. Once again, he looked over at Percy who was now nibbling on his chocolate frog. He scanned the Wampus table for Mia, who was staring at him in mild interest. Eric gave her a small wave. Mia raised an eyebrow. Well that wasn’t the response he was looking for. A professor cleared her throat breaking Eric’s concentration. He turned towards the teacher’s table to see a woman in a beige dress that extended just past her knees. She was short and stocky, but she had an air of authority to her. Her brown, faded hair was pulled back into a bun, and her high heels gave Eric the nervous feeling that he gets when he sees people standing at the edge of cliffs. She was the headmistress. Headmistress Meriam Mccoy.

“Welcome back to Ilvermorny” She greeted with a smile. The students hollered in excitement. The school year had finally started. 

“I know you all had a wonderful summer break, as did I, but it’s time to get back to school, a place of friends, family, and of course, learning” The rest of the school hung off her every word. It felt unnatural.

“We are gathered here today, not only to start off the school year on the right foot, but to invite the first years into our wonderful academy. But of course they will need to go through a small initiation to see who’ll they’ll be spending the school year with” She chuckled, “It’s time for the sorting!” Eric could feel the excitement in the air. It buzzed all around him making him dizzy. Mccoy pulled a scroll out of her pocket. She opened it up to show the extensive list of sixth graders. 

“You have all probably heard about the sorting here before so I won’t bore you with the details, however some insight is needed going forward. I will call each of you up in alphabetical order by last name, one or more of these statues will move sorting you into the houses here at Ilvermorny. Horned Serpent” The Horned Serpents cheered. 

“Thunderbird” Another cheer from the Thunderbird house.

“Wampus” A roar from the Wampus’

“And Pukwudgie” Pukwudgie followed suit, “Are the four houses that you can be sorted into” She scanned over the crowd of students to see if they understood.

“Now,” Her eyes brightened, “Let’s begin” Eric glanced over at Percy who was still gnawing on his chocolate frog. They made eye contact with each other for a brief moment. Percy shot him a look that said ‘pay attention, this is important’. Eric rolled his eyes before turning forward again. He had heard all of this before, plus his last name was in the middle of the list. He wouldn’t be going for a while. Ms. Mccoy pulled a scroll out of her pocket and placed it in her right hand. She skimmed through its contents, before her eyes settled at the top.

“When I call your name stand on the platform in the center” She instructed pointing at a spot in the middle. Eric stood on the tips of his toes craning his neck over the shoulders of first years who were much taller than him. He hated being short. The boy caught a glimpse of a small tiled crest on the floor that he had missed when he first scanned the Great Hall. The pattern was shaped into the Ilvermorny shield, it’s four corners divided into each of the houses, and all tied together with a red ribbon. There was probably some kind of symbolism there, but Eric was always bad at identifying those sort of things. Not that he would admit that though.

“Abernathy, Jedidiah” She called. The school gazed upon the first year who stepped up to the front of the crowd. He positioned himself in the middle spinning his head around to look at the crowd. His eyes were wide, and his hands didn’t  want to leave the center of his chest. The crowd leaned forward in anticipation A small grinding sound came from one of the statues in the back of the room. Eric smirked knowingly. A deafening roar sounded from the maw of the Wampus statue. Some of the first years covered their ears to block out the noise, Eric included. And as if nothing had happened the statue returned to its spot against the wall. Eric breathed a sigh of relief. Only brief sigh though. The applause from the Wampus house was explosive.

“Fuck” Eric muttered under his breath. 

_ “I hope they don’t act like animals when you get sorted” _ Luna hooted sarcastically.

 

For the next fifteen minutes the young wizards waited for their moment in the spotlight. Eric especially. He shifted in his spot the phrase ‘Please Wampus’ playing over and over in his head as if he expected sheer force of will to dictate which house he would get into. The other first years were called up one by one. Soon, covering his ears after someone got sorted was becoming a habit for Eric. He noted how each of the statues moved, Wampus roaring to the sky. Pukwudgie raising the arrow it had in its hand straight into the air. The horn on top of the Serpent glowing a sickly green. And Thunderbird’s immense wings thrashing against the wind. Eric could feel the floor vibrate whenever the Thunderbird moved as if was actually making thunder. Each of the statues were magnificent. He wanted to analyze each of them up close. He was so entranced by the statues that he almost missed his name being called.

“Makanhara, Eric” Mccoy called. Eric blinked his way to attention. He fumbled with Luna’s cage before carrying it with him. He set it down just outside the tile platform, his eyes nervously darting between the four statues. His breathing slowly became rapid, and his head started to throb. Tentatively, He stepped onto the tile positioning himself just over the Wampus on the crest. He took several deep breaths before staring resolutely at the Wampus statue. Nothing happened. That was fine, nothing happened at first for several of the students. He waited for about a minute, but still, Nothing. Another minute passed. Even Mccoy began to give sideways glances at the statues. Soon the whole school was at the edge of their seat in anticipation. What statue would give way? Would it Wampus like he wanted it to? Eric sat down his mind beginning to race. Soon thoughts of excitement about spending his year with his sister gave way to darker possibilities Eric hadn’t considered. What if he didn’t get sorted? What if he was stuck in the center waiting for the entire school year? Had he failed the initiation? Would he be sent home packing? All these questions made Eric absolutely enraged. His balled his fists until his knuckles turned white. He bit his upper lip. His eyebrows furrowed creating sharp creases against the center of his forehead. Another minute passed. Eric was now shaking. The students around him could now feel his anger. They stared at him in concern. Ms. Mccoy pulled up her sleeve revealing a watch. Eric was now well beyond infuriated.

“I think it’s time to-” Mccoy was interrupted by a sound that felt like it should have come from the depths of hell. Eric’s yell blasted everyone to attention. The sheer amount cuss words that flew from his mouth would have been astounding to a Louisianan truck driver. Eventually Eric ran out of breath, he rested his right hand on his knee, and held up a bird to the statues with the other. The bird wasn’t Luna. Percy gazed at Eric, dumbfounded along with the rest of the school. Mccoy looked just as baffled as everyone else. There was a grinding noise that came from one of the statues. The floor vibrated underneath Eric’s feet. The Thunderbird’s wings pounded against the air. Before Mccoy could say anything the explosion of noise from the Thunderbird house permeated the room. Eric stood there for a moment as it quickly dawned on him what he had just done. Quickly, he grabbed Luna and rushed towards the Thunderbird table, but not before softly apologizing to Mrs. Mccoy. Why did he do that? Eric mentally slapped himself.  _ I’m going to be expelled _ . He thought. As he made it to the end of the table a hand clapped him on the back.

“Congratulations on becoming a Thunderbird!” The Thunderbird Prefect greeted, “Good show out there”

“There was nothing ‘good’ about it, I shouldn’t have been so stupid” Eric sighed. The Prefect cracked a smile.

“Come on you made history! You are now the only kid who has a voice loud enough to cuss a statue into doing what he wants” Eric’s face flushed.

“Please stop” 

“You’re going to go far” He praised.

“I’m going to be expelled” Eric groaned. The Prefect rolled his eyes.

“You’ll be fine kid, by the way, my name’s Thomas, Head of the Prefects here at Thunderbird”

“Yeah I already assumed that” Thomas nodded. Eric looked over his shoulder at Percy. His chocolate frog was now gone, and he was staring at Eric with concern in his eyes.

“What was that about?” He mouthed silently across the room. Eric couldn’t read his lips.

“What!?” He mouthed back. Percy waved his hands in the ‘never mind’ gester. Eric spun back to the Thunderbird table. Nervously, he tapped his foot underneath the table his knee banging against the wooden frame every once once in awhile. He hadn’t managed to get Wampus, but he at least wanted to be with someone he knew. That is, if he wasn’t sent home packing the next day. A few more students were sorted and with one last sound of the Pukwudgie statue the second to last student, a girl named Brittany Whitaker, had been sorted. Now, The black haired first year was standing alone in the center of the entire school and he looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Zaayer, Percy” the headmistress called. Percy head spun forward. He held his hands above his heart as he stepped forward onto the centerpiece. The colors from the crest lit up the bottom of his feet in different luminescent hues. The statues stood still. A minute passed. Eric worried that Percy was going to go through the same ordeal he did.  _ Don’t be an idiot.  _ Eric thought. Percy would get sorted. He had confidence. But Eric still wasn’t sure. All the anxiety he was feeling dissipated when the sound of grinding statues rang throughout the hall. The school stared, mesmerized by the two sculptures. Pukwudgie and Thunderbird. Eric almost slapped himself. Percy’s eyes darted from the two figurines, to Mrs. Mccoy, to Eric, then finally they scanned over the witches and wizards that made up the school. One by one they started to chant.

“Choice, choice, choice” The chanting grew louder and louder as more of them joined in. Percy looked dazed and confused. He spun around in his spot as if someone had put an axis on his head. 

“Choice, choice, choice!” Now some of the teachers were joining in, including the one who took their bags in the courtyard. Percy looked like he was about to drop. Seeing the look on his face, Ms. Mccoy put her hand up silencing. The school stared at Percy. There was a small pause of anticipation. The students leaned in, intent on hearing whatever Percy had to say.

“I-I’d like to go with the blue one” Percy muttered pointing the Thunderbird table with his thumb. His voice carried in the echo of the room bouncing off the walls and the ceiling. The whole school heard. A couple of snickers came from the crowd. Percy looked as if he was going to break down on the spot. Eric’s heart ached for his fellow classmate. But, Eric didn’t have to feel bad much long as the laughter was soon drowned out by the sheer amount of noise that came from the Thunderbirds. Percy shuffled his way to the table his head still hung low. He sat between Eric and Thomas at the end of the table. His face was flushed red from embarrassment. It seemed as if he wanted to make himself as small as possible. He opened his mouth to say something to Eric, but was quickly interrupted by the headmistress.

“Now that the sorting is over I have a few small rules I would like to go over,” Eric perked up upon hearing this, “First off is that the Lyaberg forest is off limits until the Hidebehind problem is dealt with” The school made their stance on the subject very clear. They all groaned in unison. Again Ms. Mccoy had to put her hand up to silence them. She paused for a moment making sure that the students were prepared to go to the next point on her list.

“Moving on. Students are not to walk the halls between the hours of six o’clock and nine. Anybody who does will be given detention” Nobody reacted, this must’ve been standard rule, “There is to be no magic in the halls, even for Prefects, and thanks to last year’s ‘issue’ the practice quods can only be accessed by staff” The crowd reacted in a way Eric didn’t expect. They grinned. Their smiles were sly and mischievous, as if they knew something that Mccoy didn’t.

“The finale thing to note is that the Divination tower is still under construction and therefore off limits to everyone, thank you for listening in, Quodpot tryouts will start September twelfth, and I hope you all have a nice meal” She smiled graciously before turning her back to the crowd and sitting back down at the teachers table. Percy blinked in confusion. He turned towards Thomas.

“What’s Quodpot?” Thomas nearly choked.

“You’ve never heard of Quodpot?!” Eric rolled his eyes.

“It’ll be better for him. Quodpot sucks”

“Um… no it certainly doesn’t, it is in fact the best thing to ever exist. Period.” Thomas posed in an overly exaggerated offended stance that would have put Luna’s attitude to shame.

“There are way too many injuries for it to even be considered humane, and what does the winning team get in the end? A cheap plastic trophy, that’s what”

“It’s not about the trophy”

“Then what’s it about? Is it the about the broken bones, or is it the third degree burns?” Eric sneered. 

“You don’t get it”

“Then enlighten me” Percy looked back and forth between the them as they had their bout. Soon the boys were throwing out articles they’ve read in  _ The Wizarding Voice  _ to prove their points. Eventually, the two Thunderbirds exhausted themselves of their conversation. They slumped back into their chairs, Thomas’s arm dangling over the backrest. 

“I still have questions” Percy informed. Eric glanced up at Percy.

“Yeah?”

“What’s a Hidebehind” The black haired boy asked.

“A vicious creature you don’t want to meet in a dark alleyway, they can hide behind most anything, hence the name, you wouldn’t know if one is by you until you are already caught” Eric answered.

“So there could be a Hidebehind in here, right now” Percy looked frightened.

“Nah, they only hunt single targets” Thomas answered. Percy still didn’t look convinced, but instead of pursuing the topic further Percy decided to quickly move on.

“Do you know when the food’s supposed to get here?” As if answering his question, plates of food faded into existence on the table. Decodent smoked sausages wrapped around a decorated ham filled the center of the table. They smelled like they were fresh off the barbeque and slathered with A1 sauce. Baskets filled to the brim with different assortments of fruits, some of which Eric hadn’t seen before, landed straight in front of Thomas. And sloppily stacked hamburgers filled to the brim with different toppings appeared under Percy’s nose sporting different drinks ranging from pumpkin juice to-

“Ha ha!” Percy shouted snatching up a red can, “Dr. Pepper!” He was so obnoxiously happy that Eric couldn’t help cracking a small smile. He turned to the food, his mouth starting to water. Tiny wisps of steam rose from the meal. Eric cut off a piece of sausage from it’s link and placed it on the plate in front of him. Thomas simply plucked a pineapple from one of the fruit basket and placed it on the corner of the table next to him. Eric raised his eyebrow.

“What?” Thomas inquired.

“Nothing” He paused for a few moments considering his food. Something felt off, but he couldn’t tell what. Finally after racking his brain for the better part of a minute he found his problem.

“How is this here?”

“What do you mean?” Thomas asked.

“I mean summoning food is against Gamp’s laws of Transfiguration, it can’t just appear here”

“You really know your Transfiguration, that’s good, Mrs. Lyre tends to be hard on middle schoolers. But to answer your question its transported from another location, the kitchen”

“And where’s that?”

“Nobody knows, except Mia and her crew”

“My sister!” Eric gasped.

“Mia’s your sister!” Thomas looked just as shocked, “I mean I should have guessed, with the whole yelling at the statue thing” Eric wanted to protest, but now the Prefect was on a roll with his train of thought.

“Anyways, Mia and her entourage of Wampus third year girls have been messing with this school since they got here, there’s a reason only prefects can access the practice Quods now”

“What did she do?” Eric was now at the edge of his seat, leaning closer to hear every small detail, he knew that Mia was a bit of a prankster at home but he didn’t know that her habit had followed her to Ilvermorny.

“She set it to explode underneath Professor Haven’s desk” Thomas pointed to a man in a white beard at the teachers table. He was stabbing dejectedly at a salad. 

“He’s the Potions teacher”

“That’s horrible!” Percy exclaimed. Eric leaned back in his chair. Mia hadn’t told him any of this.

“She’s been lying to me for two years now” Eric sighed. As frustrating as it was, he had known for a while that Mia was hiding something. He could tell. She bit her lower lip everytime she lied.

“Don’t feel bad about it, I can see why, imagine what would happen if your parents found out” Thomas pointed out.

“They wouldn’t” Eric replied rubbing his face. Mia. An exploding Quod. He would have to confront her about that later. He focused on his plate full of sausage links. They looked good. Sighing one last time Eric began to eat. Luna hooted softly beside him. Eric rolled his eyes once more and fed her one of the links through the bars in her cage. Soon everyone was chowing down. Percy, in particular, ate like a pig. He scarfed down a chunk of the steamed ham before filling his plate with the mash potatoes that were just out of Eric’s reach.

“You wanna slow down there kid?” Thomas asked. Percy shook his head from side to side.

“Hamh Hoofd” A sentence Eric roughly translated into ‘I’m good’. Now it was Eric’s turn to shake his head. 

After awhile, students started to get up. At first one by one, then in herds. Percy slouched in his chair as Eric tapped Thomas on the shoulder breaking him from his cheeseburger filled concentration.

“Where are we supposed to go?” Eric asked.

“I’ll be taking the Thunderbird first years up to the common room, so just hold tight for a second” Thomas answered. The Prefect pondered something for a moment then turned until his shoulders were squared with Eric.

“So why’d you bring the owl with you?”

“Oh! Luna? She hasn’t left my side since I was six, I don’t trust anyone with her”

_ “I’m not your property” _ Luna hissed. Eric ignored her.

“I guess you have a pretty tight relationship” Thomas said stuffing the last piece of a hamburger in his mouth.

“Yeah” Eric stared at the upperclassmen who were now leaving. They seemed so big compared to him. He counted each of them as they walked through the doorway. Soon the first years were the only one left. The Thunderbird house had four new students. Percy, Eric, the girl who bumped into Eric at the train station, and a blonde haired boy that looked like he would pick fights with just about anyone. They all stared at each other sizing one another up. Eric shoved his last piece of bratwurst into his mouth. Thomas stood up taking his pineapple as he did so. He counted each of the students.

“Definitely smaller than the rest of the houses, but it seems like one house gets the short end of the stick every year. It’s what happens when you sort by personal traits.” He shrugged. He scanned the rest of the houses first years and gave thumbs up to the Wampus Prefect, who nodded back signalling the start of their climb to the common rooms.

“Yup, I guess we should head up” Thomas suggested. Percy scanned over the group. He made sure that everyone was prepared before departing.

“Alright, let’s go then”


	3. The Wandmaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting sorted, it's time for Eric to claim his wand, but it seems to be harder than he thought, especially sense the only person he can seem to get along with so far is Percy. Not even his sister is helping.

The Thunderbird common room was on top of the Divination tower. Now, each of the new, four, confused first years were staring directly at a shabby wooden door that looked like it lead into a closet. The open air sent shivers down Eric’s spine.

“I thought this place was under construction” The little girl with the red hair asked. Thomas chuckled.

“Hah! In this place? Mccoy likes her school’s reputation too much to have anything in disrepair before students get here, nah, there hasn’t been a Divitination class in Ilvermorny sense,” He paused for a moment thinking back, “ever really”

“So why does she point it out then?” The blonde boy asked.

“She likes messing with people, getting their goat, I dunno she’s weird like that” Eric put his hand on his hips and glared up at Thomas. Despite being several feet shorter than the senior, Eric’s look of disapproval made Thomas shift uncomfortably the balls of his feet.

“Look, I don’t make the rules, I just bring kids up to the common room, and if that common room is in a part of the school that has no business being there, so be it” Eric narrowed his eyes further. Thomas put his hands up defensively. He decided not to pursue the topic. 

“But how are we all going to fit inside? It’s only got room for two people” Percy asked looking between Thomas and the door. The blonde haired boy rolled his eyes.

“It’s got an extension charm on it, DOY!” Percy nervously recoiled. He nervously muttered and apology.

“Hey, shove off it” The girl snapped at the blonde kid.

“Fine, but only if you date me” The blonde boy smirked

“Ew, no, that’s gross” Eric agreed with that sentiment. Thomas coughed, capturing their attention.

“If you’re all done, we still need to get inside” The Prefect turned to the door and cleared his throat once more, “HORSE FEATHERS” A noise that sounded like gears turning came from the door as the wooden planks that made up the front panel shifted to spell out a very crude,  _ Granted.  _ Percy’s eye shined with amazement. Like the blonde haired kid predicted the broom closet had an extension charm placed on it that made the seemingly small closet turn into a room big enough to fit half the school inside.

“Zachary, you should go first” Thomas offered the door to the blonde boy.

“Why? I don’t see what the big deal is, I’m just stepping into a classroom” Thomas rolled his eyes.

“Be a bit more settemental, once you cross over the door way you will officially become a Thunderbird. Can't you be a little bit excited?”

“Well aren’t you sappy” Zachary scoffed, but instead of ignoring the offer he stepped into the doorway and put his hands on his hips.

“Happy?” His sneer made Eric sick to his stomach. He hated rude people.

“Yes much better” Thomas smiled. Percy looked at Eric confused.  _ What was the point of that? _ He mouthed. Eric shrugged. Honestly, he was confused about the whole exorcise as well.

“Eric, how ‘bout you next?” Thomas said offering the door once more.

“No thanks, I’ll go in on my own accord”

“Is now a good time to go in on you own accord?” He asked with a mixture of hope and sarcasm.

“No” 

“I can go!” Percy chimed, ready to pounce at the opportunity. Thomas smiled again. 

“Well go on ahead” Percy nodded and ran forward through the door. He did a small cheer as he entered through the door. Eric doubted that Percy knew why he did it but it made them both smile anyways.

“Oh, so you do have a soft side” Thomas teased looking at Eric’s smile. The first year scowled in response.

“Don’t test me” He scorned as he marched through the door. Thomas exhaled slowly. The girl looked at the door, than to Thomas.

“Should I go now?”

“Yeah” His tone that of pure exasperation. Slowly, she shuffled into the room.

The Thunderbird common room was a lot different than expected. Instead of the bright sky blues that made up the banners, the seating room was painted a deep navy. On the left of the front entrance was a tiny reading area. There were only about three shelves, one of which was jam packed with school textbooks. Upperclassmen sat on leather chairs reading whatever they could get their hands on. Eric, however, seemed more interested on what was going on in the right side of the room. A fireplace was lit giving off a wonderful warmth. Two couches were set up in a ‘V’ formation in front of the fireplace, it felt comforting to the first year. As much as Eric loved the architecture of Ilvermorny, he had to admit that the stones made everything cold and clammy. Now he could sit in front of a  fireplace and relax. In the back of the room there were two sets of stairs running parallel to each other.

“Boys bedrooms are on the left, Julia, yours is on the right. Tomorrow you’ll get up at around seven and head to the East hall, that’s where you’ll get your wand. It’s a long line, you can’t miss it” Thomas instructed. Percy’s head bounced up and down in a nod. 

“I’ll be going to bed now, it’s been a long day” Julia told everyone.

“You’ll find your things in your bedroom, just state your name and the door will allow you to enter” Julia nodded.

“Who will be dorming with me?” She asked. Thomas gave her guilty look. Instantly, as if being slapped in the face, Eric could feel the mood change.

“Nobody”  There it was, the zinger.

“Huh?” Julia looked shocked and confused, “What do you mean nobody?”

“Each of the bedrooms are separated by year, meaning you can only sleep with girls that are first years”

“But there are no other girls”

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry”

“So I’ll be alone for the next seven years?!” Julia had an expression like her dog just died. Thomas looked like he want to say something, but stopped and just said, “Yeah” 

Julia lowered her head. The rest of the first years just stared blankly, awkwardly standing around not knowing what to do.

“I guess I’ll just go” She trudged up the stairwell on the right. The room was so silent that you could hear the faint murmurs of Julia stating her name and then door creaking open and closed. One of the upperclassmen shut his book with a loud snap, and returned it to the bookshelf labeled ‘fiction’.

“Well now I’m depressed” Zachary stated. Eric agreed with that sentiment. Yawning, Percy stretched his arms to the ceiling.

“I’m tired too, I think I’m gonna hit the hay” He said.

“Don’t hit it too hard, you’ll break your knuckles” Thomas joked. Both Eric and Zach groaned.

“I think I’ll go too” Zach stated. Soon everyone in the common room was heading to bed. A small line had formed in front of the single door leading to the guys sleeping area. It snaked its way into the bottom steps of the rec suite. Soon Eric made his way into the line and waited patiently as each member made his way in. Eventually, Eric made his way behind one very loud, and very frustrated upperclassman. 

“No, Zacchaeus! My name is Zacchaeus, you’ve known me for years! GOD DAMMIT DOOR!” Unlike when yelling at statues, shouting at doors will not yield results. Finally, the door opened putting Eric in the front. He stared at the wooden door for a while, tightly gripping Luna’s cage, who was now sleeping soundly inside. There was nothing special about it, but somehow it knew exactly who the person was it was talking to. Eric always appreciated magic like that.

“Eric Makanahra” His voice was loud, clear, and concise. He had to make sure that the door understood him. It swung open revealing row after row of bunk beds. Zachary was lounging on one of the bottom beds by a window with a book in his hand, while Percy was softly snoring on the top bunk closest to the door. Eric’s suitcase and broom were lying at the bottom of a cot in the back by a corner window. The window had a sill big enough to hold padded covers and pillows. As he moved closer to the bed he noticed that it had his name labeled on the frame.

“What the hell, there are like, twenty beds in here, why we don’t get to choose?” Eric grumbled. Zachary scoffed.

“Do you complain about everything, or do you just do it to annoy me?”

“You’re an asshole”

“If being right makes me an asshole than fine, I’m an asshole” Eric rolled his eyes as he set Luna’s cage down on the windowsill.

“Are you ignoring me now?” Zachary antagonized.

“If I wanted to get in a fight with you I would have thrown a punch when I first met you, but I didn’t, you’re not worth it”

“So what do you consider ‘worth it’?” 

“Shut up”

“Sensitive, are we?” Eric slipped under the covers,  as he did so the lights in the room flicked off leaving the three of them in pitch darkness. The only noise left in the room was Percy’s soft snoring and Zachary’s smug chuckles which was already beginning to piss Eric off. Soon, Zachary stopped laughing. Leaving Eric with his thoughts. At this point he had time to mull over his expulsion, and he came to the conclusion that it was a stupid pessimistic thing to think about. If yelling in anger got someone expelled than Mia should have had life in prison by now. Eric’s eyes grew heavy. He rubbed them trying to stay awake for a couple minutes longer, just to sit and think about his first day, but his body had other ideas, and soon he was drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

  
  
  


Usually, Eric had trouble sleeping in unfamiliar places, but this time he woke up bright early, well rested and feeling better than the night before. He started with the mourning routine he would have at home. It started with opening the window for Luna, then onto brushing his teeth, and ending with failing to comb his unkempt hair. The bathroom was connected to the bedroom. The bathroom was big enough for five people to fit into comfortably, complete with medicine cabinet, mirror, and razor. Not that Eric would be shaving any time soon. He made sure to bring his bag of clothes with him, so he didn’t have to awkwardly change infront of Percy and Zach. 

He finished straightening his tie to his normal button down shirt and looked into the mirror smiling. He imagined his aunt pinching his cheeks at home. 

“ _ Look, the grumpster can smile _ ” She would say in her usual sarcastically friendly tone. Eric rolled his eyes at the thought. He recalled the one time when he was eight Eric had taken his aunt’s wand out of her purse. He tried to do a levitating spell, but failed miserably. The wand just exploded at the tip leaving Eric covered in soot and crying for the next twenty minutes.

Eric was excited to get his wand, not that he would admit it, but he felt it hard to deny his feelings of pure joy. He was finally going to be able to use magic. Real. Actual. Magic. He exited the bathroom at almost the exact moment Luna landed on the windowsill.

_ “Well if it isn’t Eric”  _ She greeted.

_ “You act like you don’t see me everyday”  _ Eric hooted in response. Zachary groaned.

“Who let the birds inside?” He squinted against the overhead lights.

_ “Ignore him, he’s an idiot”  _ Eric sighed. Zachary’s eyes widened.

“You’re a dyrlingualist!” 

“You sound impressed, I thought you hate me” Zach recoiled. Eric smirked.

“I’m just making a point” The blonde first year said this with a waver in his voice. Eric’s smile widened. 

“Good to know” Eric strode out of the dormitory leaving him sit on the edge of the bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes. After catching Zach off guard passeby’s could practically smell his confidence.

  
  
  
  


The line to the wand shop was ridiculously long,almost running the entire length of the East hall. Eric furrowed his eyebrows.  _ So much for the early bird getting the worm. _ He thought. The boy leaned against the wall as the others waiting in line conversed. He almost hit his head against one of the candelabras hanging throughout the hall. A call from down the hall made him tense up.

“YO! Little bro!” Mia’s grin was spread out against her face brimming from ear to ear. Eric scowled.

“So, you’re willing to address me like your sibling now that your lakeys aren’t around?” Eric snapped.

“Oh, don’t get so down in the dumps, I’m only here to talk to my favoritest brother in the world”

“I’m your only brother” Mia’s smile widened.

“I know you’re only joking” She said poking him in the side. Eric gave a small yelp. Her grin turned devilish, “Say, why don’t I give you something for being such a great little brother” Composing himself, Eric folded his arms together.

“You’re up to something, aren’t you?”

“When would I ever be up to something?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe your little Quod incident with the Potions teacher” This caught her off guard for a few moments, then she recovered with an even bigger grin on her face.

“That old geezer, I knew he could laugh it off”

“Would he be laughing it off if he was hospitalized”

“I’m more careful than that”

“Don’t get cocky, or else, you’ll be headed straight first into trouble, and then I’ll have to save your ass. And I got too much going on to worry about you”

“You’re too kind, tell you what, I’ll let you skip to the front of the line” She offered her smile finally fading.

“How?” Mia didn’t answer she simply reached over past Eric’s head and tilted the leftmost candle on the candelabra to the right. There was a small satisfying click, as gears locked into place, followed by a grating sound that came from the wall itself. The other students in line turned in shock to see the cobblestone walls shift to make a passageway that was previously hidden.

“What!?”

“This baby will lead just outside the Wandsmith, the exit is a lot more subtle than the entrance, just wait for the right opportunity, and you can slip right in line”

“No” Eric bit.

“Are you sure you don’t want to pass up this opportunity”

“I’m sure, I wouldn’t stoop to your level” Mia laughed causing Eric to recoil.

“MY level, oh, that’s rich,” She took deep breaths, stifling her laughter, “Look, I love you little bro, but you don’t put on your perfect student act to be on some kind of moral high ground, you do it so you can CLAIM that you have a moral high ground, then flaunt it in the faces of people who take one toe out of line” Eric stepped back. He bit his lower lip.

“You’re wrong”

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, all I know is that I’m gonna get my wand back, and I’m going to do it before you” She flipped Eric’s tie over his head causing him to puff up. She turned and started to glide into the tunnel, waving her hand as she did so, “See you later little bro, hope your wand is as good as you hope it’ll be” The stone slammed shut behind her.

“That was your sister?!” One of the students exclaimed. Eric bit back a snarl.

“Unfortunately”

“She’s kinda hot” Anther chimed in.

“Shut up!”

“Calm down man” Eric glared at the idiot with the snarky comments then glanced down to the ground. His sister knew how to hit him where it hurt. It was proof of the fact that they’d been living with each other for too long of a time.

“Dammit” He muttered underneath his breath.

  
  
  
  


Eric was still in a pissy mood even when he finally made it to the wandsmith. It wasn’t exactly a shop as much as it was an over glorified storage unit, complete with blue, green, and maroon wand boxes that stretch back for a few good meters. There was a wooden counter with several stacks of wand boxes strewn about, and a name plate that had the name  _ William Pots _ labeled on it.

“Sweet! You’re here” The teacher that had took their bags rounded the corner in the back, and walked up to the counter. His normal white T-shirt and jeans now harbored an additional utility belt that was full of tools that Eric had never seen before.

“Yeah” It was cold and dry ‘yeah’ as if Eric was brushing off a greeting from his aunt after a coming home from primary school. A ‘yeah’ that says, ‘just get on with it, I’m too tired to deal with bullshit right now’. Will didn’t seem to care, he just smiled and turned to a large pile of boxes that were set aside on a chair behind the counter.

“I took the time to set aside some wands for you and Percy, I think I got a good enough grasp at your personalities during the ceremony,” He pointed to the stack of wands on the desk, “That ones Percy’s”

“You didn’t have to do that”

“No, it works out this way, you get your wand, and I don’t have to spend ten minutes searching through all these musty shelves” Will slouched over picking out the top one.

“This should be a good fit” Eric didn’t know what to expect when he opened the box, but looking at the contents he knew he didn’t want it.

“Not exactly my style” He said picking up the birch white stick.

“Wand making isn’t about style, it’s about trying to give a wizard a tool that works alongside him, because that’s what magic is in essence, magic is a tool” Eric nodded. That sounded about right. He gave the wand a flick. Several boxes flew off the shelf causing Will to cry out in a small ‘eep’

“Warn me next time you go and do something like that”

“My apologies”

“Yeah, yeah, obviously that ain’t you’re wand” Will plucked it out of Eric’s hand and put it back in the box. He considered the stack for a moment before picking out one of the smallest boxes.

“This one seems more your size”

“And what do you mean by that” Eric bit. Will chuckled.

“Just give it a whirl” Eric found himself nodding once again. He picked up the wand and raised it to eye level. He breathed in. Will snatched the wand away from him.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, and no, what the hell was I thinking” He chastised himself putting the wand carefully back in the box.

“You seem to know your stuff”

“Indeed I do, best wand maker here in America, though that’s not hard, the only person I have to beat is,” His face morphed into a scowl as if his next words tasted sour in his mouth, “Miles Donovici” 

“Well, I don’t know about any Miles, but is this all you do here, hand out wands to new students” Will proudly put his hands on his hips.

“Of course not, I have two jobs, wand repair man, and Magical Items teacher”

“Wand repair man?”

“Yeah, don’t you think one is necessary, what would happen if you went the entire school year with a broken wand, that’d be all kinds of hell”  Will smirked

“Makes sense” 

Will shuffled around in the stack some more before pulling out a very short green box. The phrase  _ For The Wizard _ was etched onto the top. The letters were faded, the green paint was starting to wither away, and the corners of the boxes were torn.

“This is one my dad made, he would always write that phrase on the top of his boxes. It’s been twenty years since the last time he made a wand” Pointing the top of the container

“Is he retired or something”

“Nah, he’s dead” 

Eric blinked rapidly, “He’s what?”

“Dead, I hardly knew the guy, but his wands are littered all over these shelves, I seem to be at a miniature war with the man to see who can hand out the most wands in a school year” Will sighed.

“Who’s winning so far?”

“He is, as usual” Will shook his head, “come on, try it out, it might just work for you” Eric nodded. Tentatively, he opened up the lid of the box, careful not to disturb the contents inside.

“Poplar, Phoenix feather core, hard flexibility, 10 inches, this is a very hardy wand, good for Transfiguration”

“Transfiguration has always come easy to me”

“Then this might be the wand for you, go on, test it out” Eric reached for the wand then stopped. He looked up at Will. The man gave him a sly smile and nodded encouragingly. Without a second thought, the brown haired boy snatched the wand up. He raised it until it was eye level with him. 

Something was different about this wand than the others. It resonated with Eric in the way no other object had. The only way he could describe it is like holding a tesla ball. Some deep energy was trying to get out and attach itself to him, but he knew it wasn’t doing anything, yet he was mesmerized by it, fascinated, entranced. He stared at the poplar wood a kind of longing that he hadn’t given anything, or anyone.

“Um kid?” Eric ignored him, he was a distraction.

“Kid!” Will raised his voice. Eric’s concentration broke, “Wah, what?!” 

The wandmaker sighed, “It’s yours” Eric blinked a few times regaining his composure.

“It’s mine, but I didn’t even wave it” Will rolled his eyes.

“You don’t  _ have _ to wave your wand around like some kind of chimpanzee, you just need to find a wand that resonates with you and you alone”

“So you felt it had some sort of connection with me?”

“Wouldn’t you say so?” Eric stared down at his wand. It looked as if someone had handed him an extra limb, or rather handed him his limb that he need all his life, but didn’t realize he needed it until then.

“Yeah, I would” Will nodded.

“Unfortunately I can’t talk with you forever, I got people in line who also need wands”

“All right see you” Will’s sly grin returned as he waved the boy off. 

_ I like him _ . Eric thought as he exited the store. And it was true. Eric rarely got along with other people, especially people who are as enthusiastic as Will, but for some reason it was hard for him to even find a twinge of resentment against the man. 

He kept his thoughts on his wand and the spells he would be performing. In fact he was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn’t realize that he was back at the Thunderbird common room. He stopped at the door and was about to state the password when the door swung open nearly smacking him in the nose.

“We’re late!” Percy and Julia shouted simultaneously. The two of them were scrambling out the door almost tripping over themselves and Eric slamming him onto the ground.

“The line’s going to be a mile long!” Percy exclaimed.

“I know!” Julia yelled.

“FUCK!” Eric cussed. As soon as they got off of him Eric turned to go into the common room. The two of them were halfway to the stairwell before he remember something important.

“Percy!” Eric called. The black haired boy stopped in his tracks to face Eric. His face had a look of urgency to it.

“Tell Will I said thanks, I forgot to back at the wand shop!” Percy nodded.

“Will do!”

  
  
  
  
  
  


Meriam Mccoy’s office was simply buzzing. Literally. Tiny objects were zooming around the room giving of tiny whirs and whistles. It almost felt as if there was a constant ringing in her ears. But strangely, it helped her concentrate. The workroom was quite small, only hosting a desk, which she was sitting at, and a five foot area for visitors to stand in. Shelves full of books and other nicknacks filled each side of the room. But still, nothing was as interesting as the noises.

Noise made Meriam able to get work done faster, otherwise her thoughts would wander and she’d never get her paperwork done. O.W.L.S. were coming up for the fifth years and the Ministry still hadn’t sent her the copies of the Defense Against the Dark Arts test. She dipped her quill in her inkwell that was placed at the corner of her desk, she tapped the point several times letting the excess ink drip out. She was about to put pen to paper when she interrupted by a knock at the door. Carefully she set her quill down.

“Come in” Her voice was sweet and soft. A man with slicked back jet black hair stepped into the room. He was dressed for business, his black suit seeming more appropriate at a funeral than in a school, the collar of his button down shirt he wore underneath was freshly starched and had a pin of a heron on the left side. The man held a suitcase in his right hand. He tapped his thumb against it’s handle.

“Ms. Mccoy” His voice dripped with enough venom to kill a normal man seven times over, “I am here on behalf of MACUSA”

“I take it you have the Defense Against the Dark Arts papers then?”

“No” 

Meriam leaned back in her chair. She wasn’t happy about his appearance, but she had obviously been expecting it.

“Well then, what do I owe this visit for”

“This isn’t a visit, it’s an investigation”

“Oh? And what would the ministry have to investigate here?”

“You know what” His teeth was bared in frustration. Mccoy might have thought he was trying to threaten violence if it wasn’t for his attire, and the proclamation of the Ministry. The man glided over to Meriam. He towered over Meriam, but despite the silent threat Mccoy merely put her elbows on her desk, folded her fingers together, and rest her chin on her knuckles.

“No I don’t” 

The man sighed, his face still scowling.

“I guess I should introduce myself than. I am Damian Langdon”

“Well I’m sure you have a perfectly good reason for entering into my office and yelling up a storm, I’m not too particular to excess noise” She leaned back in her chair. Damian scanned the room with all it’s buzzing trinkets.

“Right. I’m here to talk about this,” He clicked a couple of tabs on his suitcase and it popped open with a satisfying,  _ thwump _ . He shuffled through several pieces of paper and finally settled on a folder with Mccoy’s name sprawled on the front.

“This is a list of three teachers you fired. All of them on the same day”

“Yeah, and?”

“They’re dead” Mccoy raised an eyebrow.

“Dead? No they can’t be, they wouldn’t kick the bucket that easily”

“Unless they were facing a rather powerful witch” Damian’s smug look made her shift in her chair. Merriam’s eyebrows narrowed.

“What are you insinuating?” Damian closed his eyes for a moment.

“The timeline stacks up just to perfectly. Three teachers were fired all at the same time, then one week later, were found dead in their homes all three of them were killed the same day, the day after they were all let go”

Meriam leaned back further in her rolling chair, her hair was now scraping the shelf behind her, “You’re case has a few holes”

“And that is why I’m here” He opened up the folder. A picture of Will stared up at the two of them, it was doing a small jig, bouncing up and down excitedly. Clipped to the back of the photo was his résumé a whopping one paragraph piece of paper.

“This is William Pots, he’s a rather nice boy wouldn’t you think” Meriam leaned forward sensing that the conversation was heading down hill.

“You put a red mark on his record for the same reason the three other teachers were fired, do you remember what that was”

“Inadequate performance”

“Funny how you fired three other teachers who had been working here longer for the same reason you gave one of your newest teacher only a red mark for” Damian smiled knowingly.

“Are you going to arrest me or not, because you still haven’t proven why I would murder any of my former teachers”

“Like I said, we’re here to investigate, too many holes in a case won’t hold up in court, but we will be bringing you to court, especially, if something were to happen to William here” The threat was true enough, and Mccoy could sense that if this man couldn’t find a motive, he would make one up.

Meriam put her hands up.

“I get it, I get it, I keep William alive and I may have a chance in court”

“Oh no, I will be sending you to jail, I’m just making sure I keep everyone alive while doing so”

Meriam smiled, “Well I do hope you find what you’re looking for, even though it’s not here”

“We’ll see about that” The man packed up his suitcase, closed it and walked to the door.

“Before you go Mr. Langdon, please give Matthew my best wishes”

“I will”

Meriam put her hand on the ruby brooch that laid just above her breast.

“Fine, just go” Damian nodded. He turned and closed the door behind him.


	4. Magical Items and Nicknacks

The next day the four Thunderbirds found themselves down stairs in the Great Hall. Percy was once again, shoving a pancake into his mouth.  
“HMFMH MF!” He sputtered. Eric rolled his eyes putting another waffle on his plate.  
“You're going to choke” Julia warned. They both waited for Percy to respond, but the only thing that followed was silence. Breakfast that morning had been fully of awkward pauses as none of them knew how to pick up a conversation. Zachary seemed to like it silent as whenever someone would start talking he’d slowly bring his head up and glare at the speaker. Percy seemed oblivious to the silence, shoveling flapjack after flapjack into his mouth. Julia and Eric however sat staring at each other for most of the meal waiting for the other to say something, anything.  
“So.”  
“So.” Eric coughed. There silence was interrupted by a screech of an owl.   
“Oh thank god!” Julia breathed a sigh of relief.  
“Mails here!” Another owl screeched over Eric’s head. A large package dropped directly in front of Julia.  
“Sweat, my Potions textbook is here” Percy swallowed.  
“My breakfast sausage!” He covered his plate with my arms, “Don’t poop on my food!” An owl landed directly in front of Eric. Dropped a letter on his plate. Then flew off. Eric picked the letter, turning it over to the front. The letter had several pictures of smiley faces, and hearts, and even some faces that were shaped like hearts. In big, black, swirly letters was the word Mom.   
“Jesus Christ” Eric muttered.  
“What, it’s just a letter from your mom” Julia pointed out  
“She’s not my mom” Eric ripped open the letter, tiny bits of glitter fell out.  
“But it says mom on the envelope”  
“She’s my aunt Lizzie, she calls herself mom because it makes her feel better, and I call her that sometimes by mistake” He sighed.  
“Your. Aunt. Lizzie.” Eric flung his hands into the air.  
“She’s weird, okay!” Zachary rolled his eyes.  
“No wonder you’re an idiot, it runs in the family”  
“She’s not and idiot you, you… You pompous,” Eric looked around for something to latch onto, his eyes finally settled on Percy’s plate, “POMPOUS FLAPJACK!” Percy sputtered.  
“Pompous flapjack?” Eric face palmed. Percy laughed, then Julia and Zachary joined in leaving Eric to pout by himself and reconsider his bad choice of words. Finally as the laughter died down Eric flipped open the card, the same black swirly letters filled the top part of the page. 

Dear, Honey

I hope that you’ve been having a good time so far at Ilvermorny, Aunt Margaret has been running up the walls with things that you forgot back here, but I know that you didn’t mean to take the sweeping broom instead of the Quodpot broom. 

Eric smirked when he read this.

I tried send a bag of chocolates for you as well, but somehow they got lost in the mail, but between you and me I think the owl ate it. I’m not really sure what else to put in this letter, so, I hope you have a great school year, write back.  
BYYYYYYYYYYYYYE,  
Mom.

Eric rolled his eyes. Aunt Lizzie was always writing letters, as a matter of fact Eric had a theory that Aunt Lizzie works at the post office, instead of her actual job as a barista. Not that Eric believed in this conspiracy theory. Zachary put his hand out for the letter, as if he was actually expecting Eric to let him read it.  
“Um. No.” Zachary raised an eyebrow, as if to say, ‘you sure’  
“NO.” The blonde haired boy rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.  
“You’re an ass” Eric said nothing in response. He simply folded up the piece of paper and shoved it into his khakis. He gave Zachary a glare while reaching for some more food. Before Eric could get back to his breakfast another owl swooped down giving him yet another letter.  
“God dammit” He tore it open and let the blue piece of paper fall to the table. It was titled, Schedule.  
“What’s that about?” Percy asked his mouth still stuffed with food.  
“I guess it’s my schedule for the semester” Eric flipped it open, “It looks like I have Magical Items first block, I don’t remember signing up, but I had a missing slot so I guess Will put it in for me”  
“Who’s Will?” Zachary asked.  
“The guy who was handing out the wands”  
“Oh, him” Zachary let out a bored yawn. Eric scowled as he finished his food. Soon schedules were dropping for everyone, Most of their core classes were shared with each other, Eric couldn’t wait to kick Zachary’s ass in all of them. The only two classes that Eric had without his fellow Thunderbirds, was Magical Items and Ancient Runes, the latter of which he knew a fair bit in already.   
As the clock turned warning them to get to their first class, Percy shoved another piece of pancake into his mouth.  
“Well that sucks” Julia sighed.  
“I know, but it’s about time we get to class” Eric responded. Percy shot up, obviously oblivious to the clock.  
“Whosa what now?” Eric rolled his eyes, and grabbed his backpack.   
“Just go you scrawny giraffe”

 

A small, rickety sign was placed above the doorway of the second to last door at the end of the 2nd floor East Hall. Right next door was the Wandshop where He had met Will yesterday. Eric turned his attention back to the sign, which read. “Magical Items and Nicknacks” The brown haired boy shouldered the small tote bag full of books and entered inside. He was one of only six students, the most notable of which had decided that mohawks were still in style. The other were uneventful, but a rather tall Horned-Serpent girl was popping gum bubbles towards the back.  
“Where is everyone?” Eric asked. The Horned-Serpent girl perked up.  
“Haven’t you heard, Will’s been red listed” Eric had absolutely zero clue as to what that meant.  
“What’s red listing?” The girl rolled her eyes.  
“It’s when a teacher is on watch from the principal, usually because, she thinks they did something illegal” Eric stood there shocked for a second. Will. Illegal. He didn’t really know the guy but the only thing he could see him doing was pirate some Weird Sisters albums, and even then he’d probably feel guilty and end up paying for it anyways.  
“That’s stupid, Will was a great guy when I met him” The girl shrugged.  
“I don’t know what to tell you, maybe he is, maybe he isn’t” Eric sighed, pulled up one of the many empty chairs, particularly the one next to the Horned-Serpent girl, and set his book bag down. He scanned the room, to the top left of the room was a rather large desk, with a box and the same name plate that was in the Wandshop. Towards the top right of the room was a chalkboard with the word, Broomsticks written on top of it. There was also several diagrams depicting three different styles of brooms. Eric leaned back in his chair and tapped his foot repeatedly against the ground. Did being red listed mean that he wasn’t able to teach at all?  
Finally the door swung open, and a man in a T-shirt, jeans, and a very familiar utility belt stepped forward. His eyes were puffy and red, but he was smiling from ear to ear.  
“Sorry I’m late!” He apologized as if it was just a greeting, “I had to go and pick up some of these”  
In his arms he carried several large text books, bigger textbooks than any other Eric had ever seen. With and audible clunk, He tossed them down on his desk. He spun towards the class with a big toothy grin.  
“Broomsticks, eh?” He waited a moment for someone to say something, no one responded.  
“Broomsticks are one of the most advanced pieces of magical machinery a wizard can get their hands on, they’re also the main focus of our first unit, now can anyone tell me four things that makes a Quodpot broom different from a Quidditch broom?” Again, nobody said a thing.  
“That’s fine, that’s fine” He spun back around and picked up the textbooks, “Now, this is what I like to call, the big book of brooms sticks” He placed one down directly in front of Eric. The smiling face of Oliver Wood, the famous Quidditch keeper who played for Puddlemere United, was positioning himself in different poses on to cover.   
“Now turn to page 283” The class obliged and were met by pages full of broomsticks.  
“Each of these broomsticks is a different make and model. You’ll be creating your own broomstick,” He pointed to the box that had been sitting on his desk, “and see which of your brooms matches with what series”   
Eric stood up, along with the rest of the class, and grabbed his materials, it wasn’t anything special, some twigs, a bundle of hay, and a twist tie. Soon the whole class was fiddling with materials, at some point in the middle of the hour Eric had put a Wizz Pop on his desk and had started drinking away. The materials proved more difficult to work with that Eric initially thought. Everytime he would reach for the twist tie he couldn’t hold the hay against the twig. After the fifth time Eric was beginning to get annoyed. He looked around the classroom to see if anyone was having the same struggle as he was, and sure enough his classmates were nearly pulling out their hair from aggravation. Will was sitting on top of his desk smiling.   
Eric took a deep breath. He had to step back and analyze the situation. He looked at his materials, and then the materials everyone else had. They all had the same thing. He stared for a moment scratching his brain, then it clicked. Why had he been given more than one stick? Only one would have been needed for the brooms handle.   
He looked at the differences. There were four sticks in total, three of which branched out into T’s. While the last was perfectly straight. Suddenly, Eric had an epiphany. He reached into his backpack and pulled out two textbooks. He shoved the T sticks in between them so they were standing straight up in a row. He laid the last stick on top of the T’s. Now he had made some makeshift scaffolding. He could now grab the materials with both his hands. Now that he didn’t have to hold the fake handle, he could now easily tie the hay to the end of the stick in less than five minutes.  
“Done!” He called out in triumph, his confident smirk would have made Zachary furious.  
“Well look through you textbook, what does your broom look like?” Eric flipped through his text book.  
“A Nimbus 1995” Will hopped of his desk and sauntered over to Eric.   
“Yep, Nimbus 1995, most wizards would think that it’s a Clean Sweep, but of course Nimbus would only model it off of the Cleansweep 19, in fact it was so similar that the Cleansweep company almost went to court with Nimbus over copyright, and Nimbus was forced to make the the 1996 broom in the same year” Most of that information flew of Eric’s head, but Will gave him an approving nod, and returned to his desk.   
The class continued to work. Many of them took Eric’s idea, but the only one to pull it off successfully was the Horned-Serpent girl. As the students began to wrap up there was a knock on the door.  
“Pause for a moment” Will instructed as he walked over the the exit. A small frail girl from Wampus walked in. She looked frantic and her hair had definitely seen better days. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she was constantly scanning the room as if she was in a panic.  
“Wow, calm down, what’s going on”  
“Rebecca, Rebecca Shirr wasn’t in her bed this morning when we got up, Rebecca’s missing, nobody else can find her!”


	5. A Pack of Four

“You added in your Wizz Pop?!” Julia cried. The elfin girl ran her fingers through the bangs of her auburn hair revealing her rather large forehead.  
“I was good flavoring, Cure of Boils potions does not taste good at all. Period”  
“That’s not the point, the potion could have exploded for all we knew”  
“I did know, I mean I didn’t know that the potion would turn out bad, but I did know it wouldn’t explode”  
“You did know, huh? So you know every single ingredient that’s in a Wizz Pop, and can tell me that they aren’t reactive with any of the ingredients in Cure of Boils?”  
“‘Yup, I know all 113 of them, would you like me to list them?” Zachary coughed interrupting both Eric’s and Julia’s trains of thought.  
“As fun as that sounds we really should be heading up to Transfiguration right about now, if we’re late than the administration will have our asses seasoned and served on top of a silver platter”  
Eric rolled his eyes.  
“Fine” Zachary rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes, then turned.  
“Percy also has that class, we should meet up with him” Julia suggested.  
“Like we weren’t going to do that anyways” Eric scowled.  
“I know it’s just that-”  
“That what?” Zachary stopped.  
“Percy seemed a bit off yesterday, I think he’s a muggleborn, he might not know how all this magic stuff works, and he’s been alone for two classes now without anybody to interpret for him”  
“He is, he told me on the train, but he’ll be fine, he knows what he’s doing” Eric smiled.

 

“I have ZERO clue what I’m doing!” Percy yelled frantically flipping through his textbook at record speed. Eric looked over at Percy’s match.  
“Calm down, it’s just transfiguration”  
“But I have no idea how to transfigure”  
“Just point your wand at it and think real hard about what you want the object to turn into, transfiguration is all about concentration and imagination after all. It’s simple, a needle, think about a needle”  
“ARGH!”  
“Calm down, nothing will change if you just freak out, watch me” Percy took a moment to settle himself before leaning over towards Eric’s seat. Eric closed his eyes and pointed his wand at a small match that rested at the center of the desk. He put all his concentration on the thought of a needle. He didn’t see it change. He didn’t even open his eyes, the only thing he needed to hear to confirm he succeeded was a gasp of amazement from Percy. He turned to face the tall boy.  
“See like that, just follow my example” Percy nodded and turned back to his desk. He copied Eric’s actions almost to a T. As he closed his eyes the match on his desk started to shift. The bottom shift into a loop while the top turned into a point. Then it stopped. Eric tapped Percy on the shoulder.  
“Look” Percy opened his eyes and stared down at his somewhat changed needle.  
“It’s still wooden”  
“Yeah, but you still changed it… at least a little” Percy looked up at Eric than back down at his half match- half needle. This time however, he picked it up and rolled it around in his fingers.  
“It’s cold” He noted. A small smile creeped onto his face. He turned behind him to look at Julia who was trying to work out the finer details on her newly acquired needle. Her face was creased with concentration.  
“Look Julia, I did it” Percy held up the wooden needle in front of Julia, whose expression softened into a small smile.  
“It looks nice, but try to focus on all the details at one time, don’t just think about its shape” Percy blinked, then nodded.  
“Alright, I’ll do that”  
“I could’ve told him that” Eric complained as he slouched into his chair looking at his needle.  
“Yeah, well, you didn’t, I guess someone other than you can be smart, Eric” Julia snarked. Eric gave the girl a sideways glance. Of course, she was giving him a big sarcastic grin.  
“Great” He huffed, “effing fantastic”  
The boy tapped the needle on the desk creating tiny pin pricks inside the wood. He then stopped, and looked at the clock, twenty minutes until class ended. If he turned in the project now than Ms. Trotsky wouldn’t be able to give him the next project, there wouldn’t be enough time. He frowned and got up from his chair to turn in his needle. As he passed by the front rows Zachary nudged playfully at Eric, in retaliation he nudged him back.  
As he approached Ms. Trotsky’s desk the woman looked up at him, her eyes peeking over a book, which cover read The Outer Planes for Dunderheads. Slowly, Eric lifted up his needle until it was parallel to the bridge of his nose. She held out her hand for Eric to place it in, which he did, careful not to poke her with it. She mulled the needle over, even putting on a pair of readers to look more closely at it.  
“Aptly done Mr. Makanahra, I’ll hold on to this for a later date, return to your seat for now and wait for the bell to ring” Eric nodded and trudged back to his empty desk. Julia, Percy, and Eric talked amongst themselves until class was over while Zachary watched them from the front row, picking his teeth with the match he had not bothered to transfigure. Soon the block ended and the students started to pack up their materials.  
“Remember, if you did not succeed in transfiguring your match, it’ll be homework for next time, and due next week is a 3 inch scroll on the basics of transfiguration laws and theories. Hopefully you took diligent notes, because we will be using those concepts for all seven years here”  
Zachary snickered as he broke his match in two pieces. As the four of them exited the room the same girl from The Magical Objects class ran passed the group nearly knocking Julia off her feat.  
“The hay was that about?” Julia wondered. Eric shrugged.  
“Probably hasn’t found her friend yet, some girl named Rebecca Shirr went off and hid, most likely due to some first day jitters or something”  
“Someone's missing?” Percy’s look of concern was clearly plastered onto his face. Julia and Percy stared at Eric patiently waiting for his answer. He rolled his eyes.  
“No, they aren’t missing, they’ll show up in like an hour or two, and even if they don’t I’m sure that the teachers ‘ll be able to handle the situation” Percy shuffled his feet making Eric raise an eyebrow.  
“I’m still not too sure” The taller boy sighed.  
“Not too sure about what?”  
“That they’re okay” Eric stopped and thought about his answer for that question.  
“They’re fine, it’s the first day of classes, nothing goes wrong on the first day of classes” Now Zachary piped in.  
“That’s not necessarily true, when my brother was in-”  
“Shut up!” Julia and Eric yelled at once, trying to keep Zach from making Percy feel worse. Percy sighed again.  
“It’s fine, I’m not to worried about it if Eric isn’t” He sounded reluctant as if it was still bothering him, but Eric was afraid that if he pressed the issue any further Percy would do something stupid. Eric pinched the bridge of his nose.  
“Now that we settled that, we should get to our next class”  
“And our next class is?” Julia asked clearly not happy with Eric’s attitude.  
“Charms, but just for me and Percy, I don’t know for you all” Eric said. Zachary turned to Julia.  
“Why don’t you have your schedule with you?” Julia looked downward.  
“I forgot it”  
“Do you forget things often?” Zachary mocked. Of course this was him just trying to poke fun, but Julia turned even more glum, her head tilted down even more obscuring her eyes with her long curled hair.  
“Yes” The one word answer was enough to make Zach shift on his feet.  
“Yo, I wasn’t trying to be mean or anything” Julia’s face lightened as she began to look up at the rest of the group.  
“Yeah, I know, I’ve just gotten into a bunch of trouble because of my memory” Percy looked her dead in the eye.  
“You wanna talk about it?”  
“No”  
And that was that. After a few more burts of conversation the Thunderbirds waved goodbye to each other as they headed off to the next class, but just as they did so, Percy turned to Eric and asked,  
“You think that girl will be alright?” Eric hesitated for a moment before answering.  
“Yeah, I’m sure they’re fine”


	6. In the Black of the Night

A rather burly girl wandered through a dark corridor in the dead of night. The walls were made out of bumpy, unpaved stone; however the crunching of gravel underneath her feet gave her the impression that this path was tread upon often.  
“Lumos” She muttered. The white birch wand that she was holding in her hand glowed blue infront of her. The walls around her also began to shine a soft midnight navy, but now she could see in more detail, almost every nook and cranny. Objects that had been left by previous strangers were placed randomly on the stone outcrops that jutted out from the sides of the tunnel. Candles, quills, and parchment paper were the most common, but there were a few other small nick nacks too. A broken pair of glass frames, a plastic and metal glass box that could probably fit neatly in the palm of her hand, and a thick book. The volume was what she was there for. It was black with a grey and gold border that arced around the sides. It was bound together with leather straps that spiraled into one another holding together pages that were beginning to yellow. There was no title, and there was no author, the girl, herself had no idea who wrote it either; it just showed up one day with a note attached to it. The very note that she held in her hand.  
Do not open until August 19th, 2018. ~M  
Her friend had tried to open the book earlier today, she was so excited to. Mia had insisted that they wait to see what it was about, just for fun, but when Rebecca had tried to open it up, she went missing, nowhere to be seen. She had to know. The date had just turned August 19th as of a few minutes ago. The girl clenched the instructional note in her palm.   
With one motion she flipped open the cover. The first page was blank except for the very center. In tiny letters sat the name of the author, a magniloquently looped, black signature.   
And then she was gone.


	7. Incendio

Eric shouldered his backpack as he stepped out into the courtyard in front of the school. Classes the next morning had been draining, especially Potions, which he seemed to be struggling with the most. Now, however, the only thing he was focused on was the large clocktower in front of the school. He had missed it on his way in and was hoping to get a better look at it.   
As he entered into the courtyard, the wooden creatures that he saw skulking behind the statues when entering into the school were now sweeping off dust and leaves from the cobblestone pathway. They mumbled different complaints to themselves, and scurried out of the way as Eric approached; a few of them even hissed at the boy when they saw how close he was getting.   
When he felt that he found a good enough spot, the first year spun around and looked up at the sky. The clocktower, stood at the size of a mountain, towering over Eric and the pukwudgies below him. It had a black border with golden hands that stretched to the left side of it’s face, signalling that it was around ten thirty in the afternoon. Tiny windows carved rectangles like buttons down the middle of the stone face as it connected both the East and West halls together.  
“Can I help you?” A rumbling voice asked. Eric jumped in surprise. He turned to look at a man with jet black hair in a freshly starched business suit sitting down at the feat of Isolt Sayre. In his hand was a sandwich piled high with meats. On his lap was a rather boring blue and black lunch box, with a thermos resting to the side of him.  
“Oh, I was just looking at the clocktower” Eric pointed up towards the school. The man looked over his shoulder to glance up at the structure.  
“Hmm, what about it do you think is so interesting” He asked. Eric shrugged.  
“I’m not sure, I just missed it when coming through here”   
The man set his sandwich down in his lunchbox.  
“So you’re a first year?”  
“Yah?”  
“That’s good, that’s good” Eric glanced to his left thinking. He furrowed his brow in a puzzled expression.  
“Are you not a teacher, why would you not know who I am?”   
Now it was the man’s turn to be confused.  
“And why should I, or a matter of fact, every teacher know who you are?”  
Eric thought back to the moment in the Great Hall where he cussed out the four statues.  
“No reason, no reason at all” He quaked  
“Right” The man spoke skeptically, “well if you don’t mind I’d like to finish my sandwich in peace”  
“Alright, sorry, I'll head out” As Eric started to turn away the man put up his hand.  
“Wait” Eric stopped, “turn around, let me see your face” He did as he was told. The man looked him up and down, then settling on his face, he looked deep into Eric’s eyes as if he was reading the thoughts behind them.  
“You have golden eyes” The man noted, then he motioned to a spot next to him, “sit”  
Once again, Eric did as he was asked sitting next to the man, cautious of what was to come next. The man picked up his thermos and swirled whatever contents were inside. He then uncapped the silver lid and took a sip. He offered the cup to Eric.  
“Want some?” Eric stared at the drink for a few moments before declining.  
“Nah, I got a Wizz Pop”   
The man’s face distorted into disgust.  
“What, you got a problem with Wizz Pop?”  
“No, it’s just...Soda, it hurts my teeth”  
“Oh”   
There was a moment of pause as Eric opened up his bag, grabbed a familiar green drink, opened up the top, and took a swig. The man stood there patiently waiting for the boy to finish before speaking. When Eric had finally put his drink down the man sighed and looked Eric dead in the eye.  
“Are you related to Lindsey Makanarha by any chance?” Eric leaned back, and as if by instinct, grabbed at his wand.  
“Who are you?”  
“Easy” The man warned, “I’m Damian Langdon, I was your mother’s old coworker until she disappeared” Eric slowly let go of his wand and slouched back down in a more comfortable and less tense position.   
“She didn’t disappear, she ran out, lived with no-maj’s, and forgot all about us” He used the word no-maj as if he had something bitter stuck on the tip of his tongue.  
“Oh, I didn’t realize that she…” He paused for a moment and looked down into his thermos, “She was quite an amazing person, great personality, astounding auror”  
“She’s not dead you know”  
“I know”  
“Than don’t use the word ‘was’” He snapped. Damian gave Eric a quizzical look, and then he took a drink out of his thermos. Eric also took this as an opportunity to take a swig of his Wizz Pop. The cold drink burned as it travelled into his stomach. They both brought their drinks down together.  
“I like you Eric, your a good kid, but you got to stop worrying about what other people say”  
“I wasn’t worried about what you said, I was worried how you said it”  
“My point exactly”  
“Fine, if you don’t like being corrected, I’ll just let you live in your own head” Eric had almost expected Damian to feel insulted by this, instead he laughed.  
“Oh, boy, you really need to learn when to shut up don’t you?”  
“Hey I-”  
“No, no, don’t speak, please Eric, I don’t want you to get into any trouble” The man smiled. Eric thought for a moment before speaking.  
“You know my name, I never told you it”  
“Of course, your mother wouldn’t shut up about you two. Eric and Mia Makanarha. God, the entire team was practically sick of hearing your names. You’d think that you two were the second coming of Jesus Christ himself the way Lindsey went on and on forever”   
It took Eric several minutes to process this info. In that time he stared down at his white and black tennis shoes, and looked at how his shoelaces interweaved with each other.  
“I’m going to find her you know”  
Damian perked up, “Oh, is that so, it’ll take a very incredible wizard to track someone like Lindsey down”  
“Than I’ll be the best”  
“So...does that mean you’ll be aiming to become the Minister of Magic?”  
“I guess, if that's what it takes” Damian took a moment to process what Eric had just said. In the end he just nodded, screwed the cap back onto his thermos, and slowly got up from his seat.  
“Wait” Eric interjected, “You never said what you were doing here” Once again Damian studied Eric, as if he was trying to dig his answer out of the boy.  
“I was visiting a friend, an old apartment buddy of mine. But I have to go now, my plane to England will be leaving soon, so I have to hurry”  
“Why don’t you just use a fireplace?”  
“The floo network is mandated by MACUSA, so they don’t connect between countries, especially across sea”  
“Oh”  
“Welp, bye. Hope to see you again, maybe at a later date” And with a loud whistle and pop Damian disapperated, leaving Eric alone in the courtyard with the Pukwudgies, without having said his goodbyes. 

 

“Incendio!” A small burst of fire shot out of the tip of Percy’s wand, lighting a small candle on the desk in front of him. A big toothy grin spread across the boy’s face as he picked up and raised his candle into the air.  
“Wonderful, most wonderful. Look class Mr. Zaayer has done it” The small goblin hopped off his pedestal. One of the Wampus boys flinched as he did so. The rest of the class turned their attention to the black haired boy holding the candle. They looked at each other confused.  
“How’d he do it so fast, it’s only, five minutes into class” One of the Wampus kids asked watching the candle intently.   
“I’m sure he has been studying” The goblin answered.  
“Nope” Percy chimed.  
“Than I bet someone has shown you before?” The goblin gave a grin toward Percy.  
“Nope, I’m no-maj born, I’m new to all of this” The class stared at their charms teacher who was now looking for an excuse, or a reason for Percy’s talent.   
“How come we can’t cast like that” A girl complained. After a few moments of silence, the goblin pushed a pair of perfectly circular spectacles further up onto his crooked nose, and gave the class a sad smile.  
“While it pains me to say this I believe it is a very important lesson to learn; by now you have all heard that if you put your minds to something and practice with all your soul, you will become amazing at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case with everyone. Some people will struggle no matter how hard they practice, they will not succeed, while others, like Percy, are naturally gifted and have to put in little to no effort to make their dreams a reality. However I would like all of you to note that this is only our very first spell, in a long list of spells to come, and I’m sure when it comes to the other ones we'll be learning about this year you will all perform spectacularly. Now! Let’s get back to-”  
“Incendio!” Eric’s yell interrupted the man as he tried to cast his own charm. It seemed as if the golden eyed boy had completely ignored everything the goblin had tried to teach.  
“Incendio!” He shouted again, both times there was a noticeable lack of fire.  
“Mr. Makanarha, do you feel the need to interrupt my speech with your spell casting?” The goblin asked. Eric retracted his wand and turned to face the goblin.  
“To be frank, Mr. Purch, I came to this class wanting to cast spells and not to get a lecture about success; Incendio!” Once again, no flames. Mr. Purch sighed as he took off his readers, folded them and put them in a small coat pocket just above his left breast.  
“All of you back to work. And Eric, if you speak out of term again you’ll be having detention”  
“Fine” Was the only kurt response that came from the boy. From the front of the room Julia turned back and stared at Eric. When the two of them made eye contact she shook her head from side to side in disappointment at his behavior. His only response was to try to cast some more fire charms, but again, to no avail.  
This pattern of Eric trying and failing went on for about ten more minutes, and to make matters worse, the rest of the class seemed to be getting the hang of the lesson. Tiny bursts of flame lit up the dimly lit room, illuminating the rows of straight and orderly desks, and lighting several small candles that sat in the middle of each of their tables; But Eric’s refused to light. The boy looked like he was about to blow a gasket, considering how frustrated he was. A deep layer a sweat had now settled on his forehead, and his knuckles had turned white from gripping his wand.   
From his circular desk behind the pedestal, Mr. Purch stood up. His stubby arms slammed straight onto his countertop.  
“Mr. Apricot, what exactly are you doing!?” The class turned to the back of the room to look at who had just caused the small goblin to interrupt class. Zachary looked up at the man his eyes narrow. He set the candle he was twirling with his fingers down sideways onto his desk.  
“I’m not doing anything sir” He mused.  
“That’s precisely the point, you need to be doing the lesson, how else will you know how to cast this spell?”  
“I don’t need the lesson”  
“And why is that” The goblin snarled, showing a row a rather sharp and crooked teeth.  
“It’s boring, and I'm not learning anything anyhow”  
The Goblin glared at Zachary.  
“Than why don’t you show the rest of the class how you don’t need to learn Incendio” The goblin once again corrected the glasses on his face, this time mumbling about rude Thunderbirds. Zachary shrugged.  
“m’kay”   
The blonde haired kid got up from his chair, pulled his wand out of his back pocket and stood in the center isle.  
“You might want to stand back” He warned. The students did so accordingly.   
With a smooth flick of his wrist he waved his wand in front of him.  
“Incendio”   
A massive fireball erupted from the tip of Zachary’s wand, lighting up the stupefied faces of his classmates. Eric could feel the heat from the fire burn against his cheek as he looked not at the flames, but at the bored expression that was plastered onto Zach’s face. Now he couldn’t tell if the heat was from the fire, or his own anger.  
With another flick of his wrist, Zach’s spell disappeared into the air. He didn’t even have to say anything as he looked around at the speechless faces of the other students.  
“What the fuck was that?” Eric growled. Slowly, as if they were somehow in a room filled with needles, the students head collectively turned to Eric, who was now standing, clutching his wand as he stared, eyes locked with Zachary, pure hatred as clear as day on his face.  
“What’d you mean?” Zach asked, obviously to cocky to rise to Eric’s challenge.  
“That, how did you do that. I’ve been shouting Incendio all class. Incendio this, and Incendio that, and I get nothing. And then you can just waltz in here, show me up, and act as if it was no big deal!”  
Zachary turned to Mr. Purch, not addressing Eric.  
“It’s like you said, some of us are just gifted” And Zachary turned, and trudged out of the room, with Eric yelling at him as he did so.  
“Get back here!”  
Zach did nothing  
“I’ll beat you, I swear!”  
Zach did nothing  
“Fuck you!”  
The door slammed behind Zachary leaving Eric heaving and the rest of the class silent. Slowly, once again, Mr. Purch removed his glasses, and with shaking hands stuffed them in his left breast coat pocket.  
“I-I think that maybe we should have a small bathroom break, to get-get our minds off of whatever… whatever that was. And in the meantime I shall find Mr. Apricot and give him a stern talking to.” He paused, “Oh, and Eric”  
“Yes” The boy grumbled.  
“You have detention, Saturday”


End file.
